Formula 1 Star Lewis Hamilton Says Mercedes Car Is Worst He's Ever Driven

It's been an uncharacteristically inconsistent Formula 1 season for Lewis Hamilton and it doesn't figure to get much better at Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

The seven-time champion has zero wins and just one top-three finish through eight races this season, and during the second session of Friday's practice at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Hamilton finished 13th. Hamilton said of his No. 44 Mercedes during post-practice interviews "this car is so bad." Hamilton has won seven times in Montreal but with the state of his car this year, he appears to be an underdog in getting his eighth.

"Whatever we do on this car to improve it just makes it more unhappy," Hamilton said, via The Mirror. "One touch of the curbs here and the car goes flying, it's so stiff - and here in Montreal, you really need to ride the curbs.

“It's not the Montreal that I'm used to and that I've driven throughout my career - it's the worst I've felt any car here. You are putting on a momentous fight just to keep it out of the wall, you're catching a car that's jumping. It definitely keeps you on edge.”

It was a frustrating day as the season has been for Hamilton, 37, who has yet to find himself comfortable in this year's Mercedes design. Despite making numerous adjustments to the car, Hamilton said it continues to get worse.

"Pretty much like every Friday for us," Hamilton said, via ESPN. "Trying lots of different thing, an experimental floor on my side that didn't work. Nothing we do to this car generally seems to work.

"We're trying different set-ups, me and George, with much different set-ups in this P2 just to see if one way works and one way doesn't. I'll wait to hear how it felt for him but for me, it was a disaster. It's like the car is getting worse. It's getting more and more unhappy the more we do to it.

"We'll keep working on it, but it is what it is. I think this is the car for the year, so we'll just have to tough it out and work hard on building a better car for next year."


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Nick Geddes is a 2021 graduate of the University of Central Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism. A life-long sports enthusiast, Nick shares a passion for sports writing and is proud to represent OutKick.